News
- Astronomy
Distant and Strange: Orb isn’t just another extrasolar planet
A novel search technique that could ultimately find Earthlike worlds has uncovered an extrasolar planet that is 30 times farther away than any other planet detected and lies closer to its parent star than does any other orb discovered to date.
- Earth
Northern Vents: Arctic shows surprising hydrothermal activity
A recent survey along a midocean ridge beneath the Arctic icepack unveiled an unexpected abundance of hydrothermal activity.
- Health & Medicine
Nifty Spittle: Compound in bat saliva may aid stroke patients
An anticlotting molecule in the saliva of vampire bats combats strokelike brain damage in mice.
- Materials Science
Quick-Change Surface: Material repels water on command
Researchers have modified a gold surface so that it switches from a water-attracting mode to a water-repelling one on command.
-
Testosterone’s Family Ties: Hormone-linked problems reflect parent-child bond
Low or high concentrations of the hormone testosterone may contribute to delinquency and depression mainly in children who have poor relationships with their parents.
-
Getting Attached: Sugar-protein link joins embryo to Mom
Biologists may have found the molecular handshake that attaches an embryo to the wall of the uterus.
- Animals
Retaking Flight: Some insects that didn’t use it didn’t lose it
Stick insects may have done what biologists once thought was impossible: lose something as complicated as a wing in the course of evolution but recover it millions of years later.
- Earth
Predicting geomagnetic storms
Recent observations with an Earth-orbiting spacecraft may provide new ways to predict when solar temper tantrums will cause the geomagnetic storms that disrupt communications systems on Earth and harm satellites.
- Health & Medicine
Stroke protection: A little fish helps
As little as one serving of fish per month offers protection against the most common form of stroke.
- Ecosystems
Why didn’t the beetle cross the road?
Beetle populations confined to specific forest areas by roads seem to have lost some of their genetic diversity.
- Health & Medicine
Drug protects mouse eggs from radiation
Mice protected by a drug from radiation-induced sterility have normal offspring.
- Health & Medicine
Cheap hypertension drug works best
An old-fashioned pill for preventing high blood pressure and some heart disease appears to work better than new, more expensive drugs.
